To the media, Kevin Hogan is only slightly chattier than the Stanford Tree and considerably less rowdy.

His friends say the Cardinal's redshirt freshman quarterback is just extraordinarily even tempered, that he's actually an engaging but humble guy.

"I can assure everyone he's not a robot," said backup center Kevin Reihner, who shares an apartment with Hogan and four other teammates. "He's a fun guy. He's super modest about football. Whether it's (non-football) sports or playing video games, he'll trash-talk there. But he'll never say anything on the field. On the field, he's razor-focused and locked in."

Hogan hasn't even declared a major yet, but he's one win away from being the starting quarterback in the Rose Bowl. He and the No. 8 Cardinal try to beat No. 17 UCLA for the second time in six days at 5 p.m. Friday in the Pac-12 championship game at Stanford Stadium.

Rain is in the forecast. No big deal, Hogan said. "We played in a couple of rain games this year. It won't affect us. We've been practicing for any kind of weather."

That qualifies as a speech when Hogan is talking to reporters.

Asked what makes him angry, he said, "I guess losing." He thought for a moment and said "it takes a lot" to get him worked up. "You can't let anything take over the emotional side of you. You can't get emotionally hijacked."

Hogan will be making the fourth start of his college career Friday. He was playing bit parts in what was called the Hogan Package for several games. Then he went wild in relief of then-starter Josh Nunes in a 48-0 win at Colorado, and just like that, he became the hottest athlete on a campus that this fall is teeming with hot athletes.

While the football team guns for its first Rose Bowl and conference title since 1999, the women's volleyball and women's soccer teams are vying for national championships.

Hogan seems completely unfazed by the acclaim he has received for winning his three starts, all against ranked teams, and for playing with extraordinary poise. He essentially has rescued Stanford's season. Despite a take-no-prisoners defense and the superb efforts of tailback Stepfan Taylor and All-America tight end Zach Ertz, the Cardinal probably would be headed for a second-tier bowl without Hogan.

Reihner says Hogan's low-key reaction is completely in character.

"It's been really cool to see him have his success and handle it so well," he said. "He hasn't got a big head at all. Whenever we tease him about it, he gets mad at us. We have to apologize for being excited that our best friend's the starting quarterback."

Running back Kelsey Young, who rooms with Hogan on the road, said, "Ever since I've known him, he's been mild mannered. He keeps to himself at times, but when you get close to him, he'll crack jokes and open up to you."

Most of his teammates call him Hogie, but another nickname has been catching on. The Gunslinger.

"Early on, he liked to throw it deep," Reihner said. "Everyone's got a nickname. That's what a lot of us call him."

Hogan has thrown eight touchdown passes (with three interceptions) and completed 73 percent of his passes. His 153.25 passer efficiency would rank 22nd in the nation if he had played enough games.

His teammates have picked up their own performances on his watch. Thanks to his running threat on rollouts, for example, fullback Ryan Hewitt has re-emerged as a pass catcher. He had just three catches for 19 yards in the first six games; he has caught 10 passes from Hogan in the past four games for 109 yards and a touchdown.

Already Hogan is the team's third leading rusher with 162 net yards. That statistic is misleading because sacks are counted against his rushing total. If sacks are taken out, his yards-per-carry average climbs from 4.4 to 5.8.

"He's so instinctive - when to run, when not to run, when to throw hard or not," head coach David Shaw said. "He's not playing like a freshman. We've been able to put more audibles on his plate because he's handled everything so well."

A couple of weeks ago, Shaw said Hogan grasped about 80 percent of the playbook. Is it 100 percent now? "Pretty much," he said. "We don't have handcuffs on him."

Moments after the upset of then-No. 1 Oregon, Shaw approached Hogan and said, "Good game." Hogan replied, "Sorry about the fumble," referring to his fumble in overtime that a teammate recovered.

"He keeps pushing himself," Shaw said. "I love the fact he doesn't dwell on the positives about what he does. He's always looking for what he can improve on."

"That quality is what's allowed him to have the success he's had - the poise, the resolve, the consistency in how he approaches the game," Hamilton said. "I've yet to see him rattled. It's a lot for a young quarterback not just to execute our offense but to lead our offense."

Many Stanford fans have wondered what Hogan was doing on the sideline while the offense frequently struggled with Nunes under center. Shaw and Hamilton said they didn't give the job to Hogan until he was ready.

"There was never a doubt in my mind that he had the tools," Hamilton said. "Being our quarterback requires that he do a great job of seeing the big picture. Having a comprehensive understanding of our offense is more important than just being able to throw the football. Over time, he proved that he could be that guy."

If it rains, Hamilton said, rest assured that Hogan is ready. Many of his games at Gonzaga were in the rain. "He's an absolute mudder," Hamilton said.

In the rematch with UCLA, Hogan faces his fourth ranked team in as many starts. Just another big moment.

"He's had a lot of big moments," Reihner said, "and none of them have been too big for him. I don't know if he realizes the gravity of the moment, but he's handling it awesome."

Pac-12 championship

Who: No. 17 UCLA (9-3) vs.

No. 8 Stanford (10-2)

Where: Stanford Stadium

When: 5 p.m. Friday

TV/Radio: Channel: 2 Channel: 40 / 1050

Friday's game

Story line: With a Rose Bowl berth on the line, both teams have tried to forget last week's 35-17 Stanford win. But UCLA would seem to have a big motivational edge after being embarrassed at home. These are the first teams in college football history to play each other in their regular-season finale and again the next week in a conference title game.

What to look for

-- Bruins QB Brett Hundley figures to run more than the one non-sack rush he had last week. He looked to pass rather than run in that game; this time, he's going to be looking to get out in space, and that could spell trouble for the Cardinal.

-- Stanford's Stepfan Taylor was able to take the last quarter and a half off last week. He's 35 yards shy of Darrin Nelson's school career rushing record of 4,169 yards and probably will be even more of a factor if it rains.

-- PR Drew Terrell is due to break a return, and it could come Friday. He had a 19-yard return against the Bruins last week before being hit so hard his helmet flew off.

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